Is the Dominator worth it?

[Grumpy Old Guy]

It's one of the only weapons with medium armor pen on it and I have the pass already and was thinking of going for it.

I already have the breaker and the slugger is so far down I don't know what would be better to go for.

[Sotanaht]

Slugger seems better. I haven't noticed any case where the dominator "medium" armor pen actually penetrates armor that a light weapon wouldn't. The slugger seems more like medium. It also has way more stagger.

[Kashra Fall]

Originally posted by Sotanaht:

Slugger seems better. I haven't noticed any case where the dominator "medium" armor pen actually penetrates armor that a light weapon wouldn't. The slugger seems more like medium. It also has way more stagger.

Shoot a devastator in the chest with a defender. Now do the same thing with a dominator. There's the difference. One will actually hit, the other will ricochet. Dom's biggest perk is the explosive damage though.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

So I guess I should clarify, should I go for the slugger or the dominator? Like which do you prefer to use?

[Kalenath]

Not really. It is NOT a close range weapon. At longer ranges it cuts down automatons like crazy, but when they get close, the shell does not hit as hard. The explosion still hurts you as well. The medium armor piercing seems a bit hit or miss (snerk) against bugs.

IMO Slugger is slightly better if you are going for something that won't hurt you and want something different from Breaker.

[Lucky Cat]

I consider the Dominator a better version of the Marksman Rifles but with a extremely punchier damage. The benefit is it can OHK Hive Guards in the head, you won't see it since their carapace don't explode off but you can tell when they frantically try to run to you which equates to missing their heads technically.

The only issue with it is it has a miserable 15 round capacity with 6 magazine reserve, so you're forced to pair yourself with a support weapon that can compensate it and your role is more for tackling and VERY accurately dealing with medium targets like Devastators, Hive Guards, and worst case, Hulks and Chargers (Assuming you hit their weakspots as explosive damage is 110% effective there). So, its matter of preference. I love it but not worth it since trying to be precise with a slower velocity round from the Dominator is tricky.

[Noxious]

In my experience, the Dominator, has very sluggish handling for a Primary, makes sense for such a punchy weapon, but for me personally, the heavy weapon handling, makes a chore to use.

But someone who enjoys a more measured Long-range playstyle might like it.

[J.P.]

It's okay'ish, I tried it a few times but it doesn't feel "explosive" at all it's more like a shotgun idk

I tried the slugger for the first time yesterday and it's kinda good on medium bugs but the RoF is too low for suicidal imo

[Qua2ar]

Jar-5 does a bit less damage, but it has burst fire mode with a good fire rate and it deals explosive damage, both have medium armor pen, but the explosive damage of the jar-5 makes it do more damage against bug "soft spots", like the behind of a charger and the bile spewers body.

Against soft spots normal damage is only 10%.
Explosive damage against soft spots is 100%.

[Fractured]

Originally posted by Noxious:

In my experience, the Dominator, has very sluggish handling for a Primary, makes sense for such a punchy weapon, but for me personally, the heavy weapon handling, makes a chore to use.

But someone who enjoys a more measured Long-range playstyle might like it.

This, the turn rate is slower than the MG I swear. Along with the fact that its ammo is too terrible. Too many negatives piled up for its one pro, the punch. But damn does that punch feel good.

[Sotanaht]

Originally posted by Kalenath:

Not really. It is NOT a close range weapon. At longer ranges it cuts down automatons like crazy, but when they get close, the shell does not hit as hard. The explosion still hurts you as well. The medium armor piercing seems a bit hit or miss (snerk) against bugs.

IMO Slugger is slightly better if you are going for something that won't hurt you and want something different from Breaker.

There is no explosion from the dominator round. I cannot damage myself with it, nor have I managed to damage multiple enemies with the same shot (even eggs). It also can't destroy the locker doors at minor POIs. The slugger CAN destroy those doors.

Originally posted by Qua2ar:

Jar-5 does a bit less damage, but it has burst fire mode with a good fire rate and it deals explosive damage, both have medium armor pen, but the explosive damage of the jar-5 makes it do more damage against bug "soft spots", like the behind of a charger and the bile spewers body.

Against soft spots normal damage is only 10%.
Explosive damage against soft spots is 100%.

You can kill a Charger with a little over 1 full mag from the Slugger fired at the abdomen. It even destroys the abdomen, making it look like it's been roughly cut in half (BEFORE killing the bug). I've tried killing Chargers with the Dominator and it takes several full mags, like 4 or 5.

[Fractured]

Originally posted by Qua2ar:

Jar-5 does a bit less damage, but it has burst fire mode with a good fire rate and it deals explosive damage, both have medium armor pen, but the explosive damage of the jar-5 makes it do more damage against bug "soft spots", like the behind of a charger and the bile spewers body.

Against soft spots normal damage is only 10%.
Explosive damage against soft spots is 100%.

Source on the numbers?

[McDinglefart]

It's a terrible weapon.
Recoil and slow targeting makes it unusable. It's just hard to use for its purpose.
There are better weapons to choose.

I unlocked, used it once and never used again.

Maybe it's usable if you have support weapon like machine guns to kill mid armored enemies.

[Kalenath]

Originally posted by Sotanaht:

There is no explosion from the dominator round. I cannot damage myself with it, nor have I managed to damage multiple enemies with the same shot (even eggs). It also can't destroy the locker doors at minor POIs. The slugger CAN destroy those doors.

*shrug* I seem to die to explosions a lot while firing it when stuff is close, but that could be anything.

Slugger can break the doors? Okay. I have a new primary carry until I try that out.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

Man this is all super sad because I'm getting bored of the breaker but legit nothing in the game is nearly as strong and its just sad that the game is so poorly balanced.

To be clear I don't want the breaker nerfed I want the other guns buffed.

[Sotanaht]

I just did some testing with the Slugger. It seems to have taken 10 shots to the abdomen to kill a Charger on Suicide (7) difficulty. I did hit the rear leg once (which DIDN'T ricochet and left a nice bit of visible damage), and 1 more shot to the abdomen after it broke off which I don't think was necessary. Seems that once the abdomen breaks, the Charger acts a bit like a headless Brood Commander, attacking for a few more seconds and then dying.

With the Dominator, I have not been successful killing a Charger at all. I've put at least 20 rounds in, with probably twice that many missing or ricocheting, and eventually been overrun by other bugs while trying to kill the Charger. It's probably possible to kill with the Dominator by shooting the Abdomen, but so impractical that I really wouldn't recommend ever trying it.

Edit: Tried with the breaker, seems to be around 15? Hard to tell. Definitely impacted by range, you need to be close. Also the incendiary breaker seems to take about the same number, maybe a couple more but not much.